


Once Upon a Dream

by Carloswilliamcarlos



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Arranged Marriage, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:46:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24814042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carloswilliamcarlos/pseuds/Carloswilliamcarlos
Summary: The night before your arranged marriage, you reunite with your childhood crush, dark prince Kylo Ren.
Relationships: Ben Solo | Kylo Ren & Reader, Kylo Ren & Reader, Kylo Ren & You, Kylo Ren/Reader, Kylo Ren/You
Kudos: 43





	Once Upon a Dream

You have a million duties that weigh on you daily as the eldest princess in your family. But the only one that matters is marriage. To your family’s utmost delight and your deepest dread, you’re betrothed to be married tomorrow. You’ve only met the man this morning. He’s everything you always feared he would be: thin, cold, frail, paler than a ghost, hair grey as death. He’s empty, he’s lifeless, he’s bleak. He’s your lack of autonomy in human form. 

You lay awake in your quarters, staring up through your window at the moon. Sliding off your bed, your pry open a tiny, secret gap in your floorboard, pulling out an ivory calligraphy pen. Twirling it between your fingers, you think of him. 

The dark-haired prince you’d run around the forest with as a child, splashing in the river, muddying your dress, watching in awe as he lifted little pebbles from the ground without a finger, making them dance around you. He’d swirl them around your head like a halo, eyes lighting up as you giggled.

The day your mother went out to find you and caught him in the act, the pebbles crashing to the ground, the fear in his face. She’d dragged you back inside the castle roughly by the arm. “We don’t associate with force users,” she spat. “That boy comes from a dark and dangerous kingdom. You must never see him again.”

You had snuck out to meet him one last time, that same night. He gave you his calligraphy pen with a trembling hand. “Remember me,” he said. You plucked a single daisy from your braided hair, pressed a tiny kiss to its petals, and handed it to him delicately. He kissed you under the cover of the forest canopy before he and his black robes disappeared into the night. 

From then on you’d only heard stories about his kingdom, horrible stories about war and terror and villages burnt to the ground. He was Commander now, leading the charge of tyranny. He had killed his own father, the rumors said. The boy you met in the forest is gone, trapped inside the body of a ruthless killer. Some nights, you swear you can still hear his voice in your head.

The news of your engagement has surely reached him by now. You wonder if he remembers splashing in the stream with you or if your memory has been lost to time, age, royal responsibility. 

You know all too much about royal responsibility. After the ceremony tomorrow, carriages will whisk you away to a strange new land, never to see your family or the castle you’ve grown up in again. 

You stand at your window, gazing out at the moonlit tree line, the wind whispering forbidden words and the bubbling of the stream sending a shiver down your spine.

You have to go, before you leave One last time, before your future is stolen from you forever. 

Candlestick in hand, you creak open your heavy wooden door. You tiptoe down the stone hallway, passing by portraits of your ancestors. At the top of the stairs, you spot the one of your great great great grandmother, the one who looked just like you. You think you catch her eye gleaming as you turn to descend the steps. 

The grass tickles your bare feet and brushes against the bottom of your nightgown as you cross the open field toward the tree line, moonlight illuminating your path. You breathe in deep as you step into the forest, darkness swallowing you. 

You follow the sound of the stream, dark creatures passing beside you, two fireflies flitting across the path, unidentifiable croaks, creaks, and snapping twigs filling the air. You walk closer, closer, the soft bed of dirt and leaves padding each step.

Across the stream, you see him, kneeling by the riverbed, a cloaked black figure in the darkness. 

His eyes flick up to meet yours. Kylo.

You’re breathless. 

He says your name, only a whisper, standing slowly. 

You’re frozen until invisible arms surround you, lifting you across the water to stand before him. 

He reaches up a careful, careful finger to swipe away a tear falling from your eye. 

Silence falls over the forest as you stare at each other, struck speechless. 

He’s tall, powerful, broad shoulders standing proudly under his robes. His jaw is stronger now, a scar runs down his cheek, he looks all at once exhausted and furious and frightened. But his eyes. His eyes are the same. Warm. Deep. Searching for something he can only find in you.

As you meet them with your own, his whole body softens, a breath of ease relaxing his figure. 

There are ten trillion words you could say to each other now. Too many years of memories stolen, of innocence lost, of tragedies you’ve both suffered and caused that maybe you never would have, had you been together. You feel it all then: the life stolen from you, the bleak imminent future, the loss of the only real innocence either of you have ever known. 

You can’t think of a single word to say. 

So you reach into your nightgown pocket and pull out the pen, displaying it to him in your open palm. 

He reaches into his cloak and extends his own hand. Above it, a single daisy twirls in the air, as alive and fresh and beautiful as the day you gave it to him all those years ago.

He’s kept it alive with the force, you gather, pulling his own life force from within him to heal it each time it wilted. What you don’t know is he’s done so every single night, alone in his chamber, before he falls asleep. He’s done so even when he bunked in battle encampments, with soot and enemy blood still clinging to his skin.

“I thought you’d forgotten me,” you whisper, another tear falling. 

“Never,” he replies, eyes flicking between yours. “You’re the only thing I ever want to remember.”

“Kylo,” you say, heart sinking, looking down at the forest floor. “I leave tomorrow. I’m engage-”

“I know,” he cuts you off. “I only hoped I’d find you here before you left.”

You nod sadly, face crumbling. You take a shuddering breath. “I never forgot you either.”

He tucks his finger under your chin, tilting it up to meet his gaze. 

“Run away with me,” he says. “Run away with me tonight and you’ll never have to see him again. We can go, now. Leave your kingdom and mine. Start over somewhere new, somewhere far away, somewhere where we can be together always.”

Your heart races. You can’t. Can you? You’d be defying all of your family’s wishes, breaking a generations-long tradition, betraying every role and responsibility you’ve been slave to since before you were born. 

It’s perfect.

“We can have a future,” he says. “A future beyond our bloodlines.”

He waits, holding his breath, watching every expression wash over your face, hoping, hoping.

You look into the black depths of his eyes, catching your own reflection. You see it all then. You see a girl, in love, in power, free, human. You see the child you were when you splashed across the stream for the first time, laughing with abandon. You see the woman you’ll become when you leave with him. And you see the gleam in your great great great grandmother’s eye as you turned to take the stairs, to make your choice, to honor the sacred mysticism of possibility. 

“Yes.”

You’re running now, laughing wildly, hand in his, dodging dark trees and pounding the earth. Your candle lies extinguished on the riverbed, smoke floating up to the stars.


End file.
